I Noticed
by Lady of Light
Summary: Goose admits to noticing a few things about one of his new teammates.


I Noticed

_Rated PG-13 for language._

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_Disclaimer:I own not, so do not sue.Don't you know all writers are broke?_

I Noticed 

I know, I know.STs only get angry and mad.That still doesn't mean that I'm dead from the neck down, you know.Of course I noticed her.

It would have been impossible not to; she was the only woman sitting in a briefing room with three men.Maybe five foot eight, moved well, impractically long hair, wearing a boot sheath knife that she wouldn't have a hope in hell of actually getting to if I'd decided to attack her.Minimal threat.Oh, yeah, I also noticed that the long hair was this reddish brown with gold bits in it, and that the body beneath the ranger uniform was…. interesting.But that was a little after the fact.

Well, what do you want?I'm an ST.We notice combat potential, not sexual attractiveness.I was trained early and often that stuff like sex and desire were undesirable behaviors.Let me tell you, there's nothing like shock therapy to take a guy's mind off the unnecessary things in life.Between that, the physical regimen that ran twenty out of twenty-four hours a day, and the drugs….Well, the drugs might have worn off some by the time I graduated from the academy and joined the S5 unit, but even BDCs don't easily erase nineteen years of conditioning.

So, naturally, with all that, I was less than pleased to be noticing this girl.I mean, what was it about her, anyway? Nothing special.

OK, I'm lousy at lying – at least to myself; most survivors are.So, yeah, I'll admit that was really got to me was the scent of her.It's kind of the smell of warm honey with a touch of cinnamon, and it's very subtle, like it comes from her skin or something.I don't think anyone else noticed it at that first briefing; Zach and Doc don't have my nose.

Then again, maybe Doc did notice.He was trying to get her attention – flirting, I guess – and failing miserably.Niko was polite to him, but she kept looking at me.

Maybe she could tell that I was sniffing.By that time, I think I was staring, too.I probably wasn't being real subtle, but I had a reason.I was trying to figure out why her hair was glowing.

No, I wasn't seeing things.Her hair glowed, like there was a very low-level power field around each strand of hair; that's how she kept it under control, I guess.I couldn't figure how the hell she was doing it without being an ST like me – which she wasn't - and I know I was scowling.

I don't like unknown quantities. 

The commander came in just as I was about to ask what the hell she _was_.We all took our seats, and that's when I saw her pull out her chair without touching it.

Well, at least it explained the glowing. 

Ten minutes into the briefing, I started realized my earlier estimate had been wrong.This girl was not minimal threat potential.She was damn dangerous.She was actually _distracting_ me.It had never happened before, and I didn't like the feeling.So I scowled, and tried to ignore the fact that all that shimmering hair smelled faintly of vanilla.

Sometimes enhanced senses are a real bitch.

By the end of the briefing, I'd decided that I was pissed.I'm a supertrooper, a BDC.I'm a badass.I am not distracted by skin than smells like honey, or a curvy little body that seems very small and delicate and _different_ compared to mine.I don't like vanilla.

To her credit, Niko didn't flinch when I growled at her.She stayed her damnably serene self, turquoise eyes calm, hands folded in her lap.But now she was aware of me like I was aware of her.I know, because her scent changed; it got a little spicier, a little muskier.The predator in me sat up and took notice.

Sometimes, enhanced senses come in handy.

So what happened after that first briefing, with all this awareness and male-female shit striking sparks in the air?

We went on the mission, almost got killed, and came home.Disappointed?Tough.Niko and I are just friends.

Did I actually say that?

Yeah, I did.OK, we're friends.Half the time I think it's because even in the S5s, we stand out.We're different, and that gives us a little common ground.

Stars, listen to me.I'm getting philosophical.But nothing's happened between Niko and me, and nothing's going to.I'm still Shane Gooseman. I'm the big, badass supertrooper who can bench press cars and scare perps into cooperating with a glare and a growl. 

Who do I think I'm fooling?Hey, remember who you're talking to here.STs get angry, or we get mad.We don't get soft.You think I'm going to admit that I watch the way Niko walks into a room just so I can see all that silky, glowing hair shift and sway, or that I deliberately stand near her during briefings so I can smell that honey-vanilla scent of her?I'd sooner hold off the entire Crown Armada with only a half-charged pulse rifle.I'm not telling _her_ any of that crap; I have a reputation to maintain, for crying out loud.

But I'm not going to give up noticing her.

_-Fin-_

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_January 2001, by Kelly Smith_


End file.
